Nightmare
by Cure-For-Apathy
Summary: "Time cannot make false that which once was true." Grayza.


**Disclaimer:** I don't own Fairy Tail, but I'm sure we all wish we did.

**This fic is rated T.** It has some cussing and quite a bit of blood.

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The rain fell hard from the darkened sky. The clouds hid any trace that the sun tried to leave behind. In a forest close to a remote village, Gray could be seen running as fast as his legs could carry him.

Gray and Erza accepted a request to stop a group of thugs from tormenting a neighboring village. Little did they know they were dealing with an entire dark guild. They were severely outnumbered.

Gray and Erza tried to send a message to Fairy Tail, but were cut off by the enemies' ambush. The next thing he knew they were trying to outrun the enemy. They needed to form a strategy to fend them off. One of their guild members snuck up behind Gray while he was caught off guard and hit him over the head with something heavy. He blacked out almost instantly. All he could remember was a sharp pain. When he woke up, he found Wendy had almost completely finished healing his head injury. Reinforcements had arrived, but Erza wasn't anywhere in sight.

It didn't take Gray long to understand why.

With him passed out, he was only slowing Erza down. She had done her best to hide his unconscious body somewhere out of the enemies' reach. She did it to protect him and now she was stuck fending off the enemy all by herself.

Without a second thought, Gray quickly stood up and told Wendy to find whoever was free to help him search for Erza. He rushed off without another word, not even checking to see if Wendy was following him.

_Please…Let her be okay!_

Gray ran past tree after tree with only these thoughts running through his mind. He made his way into a clearing in the middle of the woods. It was a wide open space, much larger than he was expecting to find. Before his eyes he saw countless bodies lying unconscious on the ground.

_They were all taken care of?_

Gray eyed his surroundings. Amongst all of the individuals scattered in the open field, only the one with the scarlet hair stood out to him.

"Erza!" Gray ran to her side and dropped to his knees once he reached her. He lifted the top half of her body out of the cold sludge and leaned her up against him.

Though Erza was kind enough not to kill any of the brutes, they weren't nearly as kind to her. Her face was pale and he could tell she was barely breathing. Her flesh was cold and covered in numerous wounds. A puddle of her own blood was mixing in with the mud beneath her.

_Shit!_

"Hang in there!"

Gray heard a small grunt leave her mouth. He watched as her eyes slowly began to open, her beautiful brown eyes greeting him. "Gray…"

A glimmer of hope was awoken inside of Gray at the sight of her. "Erza!"

"I'm always needing to be saved, aren't I?" Letting out even the slightest laugh made her cough up a great deal of blood. Gray's hopes vanished in that single instance. "Though I don't think that's possible this time."

Gray began to tremble as she lay in his arms, her life hanging by a thread. She had once again pushed herself too far. "You idiot…What were you thinking?!"

"About a lot of things." Gray was alarmed when she placed her free hand on one of the arms that was supporting her. The way she looked at him made him believe she was somehow..._happy_. "Ever since Jellal's death, I feel like you've built a wall between us. I've been trying my best to tear that wall down to no avail. I now realize why I was trying so hard to accomplish that single task. I didn't want to lose you, too. I'm glad to see you're safe."

She never once thought of what might happen to herself. She had done it all for _his_ sake. He felt overwhelmed. It was almost too much for him to bare. "Now isn't the time! You need to save your voice!"

The look in her eyes never wavered. "I don't want to die with regrets…of not being able to tell you my feelings."

Gray's heart sank even deeper into his chest. He felt as if his entire being was collapsing around itself.

_You're talking about regrets at a time like this? I have plenty. _

"It can wait! You're not going to die! Help is on the way!" Gray's eyes glanced back at the entry into the opening, hoping for the guild members to show up at any moment. He cursed under his breath when his hopes were once again dashed by reality.

_Goddammit, where are they?!  
_

Erza's hold on his arm tightened, as if to reassure him. "It's alright, Gray. There's no point in fighting it."

___If only I hadn't passed out and stayed by your side. Things might have turned out differently._

Gray looked back down at her. He was sounding desperate by this point. "Don't give up so easily!"

_Why..._

"Is your voice breaking, Gray?"

_Why couldn't I have been stronger?_

"No..."

_____I couldn't protect you even once, could I?_

"This is the first time I've ever seen you cry, Gray."

She was right. Even though the rain was pouring down on the two of them, water dripping down their faces and washing away the blood, she was still able to make out the tears streaming down his face. She always was able to notice these kinds of things.

Erza slowly removed her grip from Gray's arm and lifted her arm up to cup his face. She stared lovingly into his eyes as a gentle smile appeared on her face.

_____Please, don't leave me._

"Erza, I-"

The ice mage watched as the smile from her face faded and her eyes slowly closed shut. Gray felt the strength from Erza's hand release its grasp from his cheek and watched as it fell, lifeless onto the dirty mud beside her. His eyes widened in horror.

_I never even got the chance to tell you my feelings._

Gray's body shot up from his bed.

He could barely catch his breath, his heart was pounding so hard it felt as if it would burst right out of his chest. His whole body was shaking and drenched in sweat. When he brought his hand to his face, he could feel the dried remains of tears trailing down his eyes.

He let out a heavy sigh.

No matter how many times Gray had that nightmare, it never got old. The pain never lessened.

After his rude awakening, Gray started his usual morning routine. After taking a shower and getting dressed, he made his way into the living room. Before stopping by the kitchen to grab something to eat, he walked over to a special section of the room and sat down on the wood floor. Before him was a table decorated only with a picture frame and a small vase holding a single pink carnation.

Gray sat thoughtfully in silence for a moment. After inhaling and exhaling, he opened his eyes and looked up at the picture in front of him, smiling.

"Good morning, Erza."

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**Author's Notes: **A little tidbit of information, the pink carnation means "I'll never forget you". I thought it was appropriate for the story. Also the summary is a quote by Luke Taylor.**  
**

I had the idea of this one-shot while I was still writing _The Waiting Game, _but never got around to fleshing out the idea. Sorry if this story made you sad. I don't know why I like writing drama so much. I plan on writing more humor/romance fics in the future, though. I actually have the idea for one planned out, I just need to write it.


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